Like tobacco, sugar must be made a pariah

A Starbucks coffee shop. ‘Diabetes now accounts for 10% of the NHS budget and cost £800m last year. The main cause is high-calorie (usually high-sugar) food,’ writes Colin Bannon. Photograph: Alamy

So Starbucks is committed to reducing the sugar in its drinks by 25% by the year 2020 (Report, 17 February). This means that the content of its grape mulled fruit drink mentioned in the article will be reduced from 25 spoons to about 19! So, the unfortunate customer, on whose ignorance these outlets rely, will have to briskly walk about two and a half miles to burn off these empty excess calories. An unlikely scenario, made less likely if accompanied by a muffin or some-such other nutritional hand grenade.

Independent of the increase in weight caused by sugar – averaging about 120 spoons a week in this country – evidence from studies of obese children in the US shows that sugar is toxic in itself. With Starbucks’ and others’ sort of anti-commitment to the nation’s health, surely these companies should be made to pay their fair share of the cost to the nation of the illnesses they help create. For instance, diabetes now accounts for approaching 10% of the NHS budget and cost around £9bn last year. The main cause is high-calorie (usually high-sugar) food. The effects of bad diet do not stop there and reduce our resistance to all sorts of disease. How many people died before tobacco became a pariah? Surely, now it’s sugar’s turn.Dr Colin BannonCrapstone, Devon

• What a not sweet surprise that our large coffee chains are enticing us to overdose on sugar. I cannot understand why the public frequents these overpriced chains. I nearly had a heart attack when I came to pay at a local Costa Coffee and this was without the add-on of the sugar content of my cappuccino. I frequent local cafes that need our support; they are friendly and their drinks reasonably priced and less conspicuous with their sweetness.Judith DanielsGreat Yarmouth, Norfolk

• Did we really need to be alerted to the fact some hot drinks have high sugar content? What did people think was in their caramel hot chocolate with an extra shot of caramel, whipped cream, marshmallows and a flake?Raphael LevyQueens’ College, Cambridge